The Red Sox wasted no time scoring in the top of the first inning against Toronto starter Fransisco Liriano. Mr. Mookie Betts walked but Dustin Pedroia flied out. Xander Bogaerts struck out but Hanley Ramirez doubled Mookie to third. Jackie Bradley Jr doubled in both runners to give the Sox the lead. Chris Young grounded out to short to end the inning but it was 2-0 Red Sox.
Sale began the bottom of the first by walking lead-off man Jose Bautista. Chris recovered to get Russell Martin to fly out and Josh Donaldson to strike out. Justin Smoak singled to center but Sale struck out Troy Tulowitzky to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the second inning. Sam Travis grounded out to second and Sandy Leon popped up, but Deven Marrero singled. Mr. Mookie walked and both runners pulled off a double steal. It was a key move as Pedroia doubled both runners home. Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning now up 4-0.
Sale began the bottom of the second by hitting Steve Pearce with a pitch. Sale turned up the heat to strike out Kevin Pillar, Dawrin Barney and Ryan Goins in short order to end the inning.
Liriano settled down in the top of the third inning by striking out Ramirez to start. JBJ lined out to right and so did Young to end the inning. Sale dominated the bottom of the third by getting Bautista to hit one up the elevator shaft to start. Martin flied out to left and Donaldson watched strike three go by to end the inning.
Nothing happened in the top of the fourth inning as Travis flied out to right, Leon lined out to short and Marrero struck out to end the inning. Sale struck out Smoak to begin the bottom of the fourth but Tulowitzky got the Jays first hit with a base hit to left. Sale recovered to strike out Pearce and Pillar popped up to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fifth when Mr. Mookie walked and stole second to begin. Pedroia grounded out but Mookie went to third, then he scored on the sac fly by Bogaerts. Ramirez singled but JBJ flied out to end the inning with Boston ahead 5-0.
Sale continued his dominance in the bottom of the fifth as he got Barney to line out to start. Goins whiffed and Bautista flied out to end the inning.
Things looked good in the top of the sixth inning when Young led off with a single but Travis banged into a double play. Leon singled but Marrero lined out to end the inning. Sale ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth when Martin was hit to start the inning. Sale struck out Donaldson but Smoak doubled Martin to third. Sale recovered to retire Tulowitzky on a comebacker to himself and Pearce on a pop up to end the inning.
Lucas Harrell came in to pitch the top of the seventh inning and Mr. Mookie grounded out to start. Pedroia flied out and Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning. Sale returned for one more inning in the bottom of the seventh. Pillar flied out to center and Barney lined out to JBJ, but Goins blooped a single to left. Sale froze Bautista to end the inning. Chris had tossed 7 shut-out innings giving up just 4 hits while striking out 11. Outstanding.
Harrell returned for the top of the eighth and Ramirez singled to start. JBJ popped up but Young singled. A wild pitch moved Young to second but he was stranded when Travis grounded out. Ramirez then foolishly tried to steal home and he was out by a mile to end the inning. Blaine Boyer got the call in the bottom of the eighth and hit Martin to start. He recovered to strike out Donaldson and get Smoak to pop up. Tulowitzky also popped up to end the inning. What an inning for Boyer.
The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the top of the ninth inning. Leon singled and advanced to third when Marrero reached on an error by Barney. Mr. Mookie looked at strike three but Pedroia walked to load the bases. Bogaerts stroked a 2 run single to increase the lead. Ramirez froze on strike three and that was it for Harrell. John Gibbons waddled to the mound to bring in Jeff Beliveau to strike out JBJ but it was now 7-0 Boston.
Robby Scott had mop up duty in the bottom of the ninth and Pearce immediately greeted him with a solo homer. Pillar grounded out but Barney singled. Goins froze on strike three but Bautista popped up to end the game. The Sox had won it 7-1.
Hero of the Night is easy, Chris Sale dominated to earn his 11th win, pitching 7 shutout innings while striking out 11.
The Good:
Mookie Betts walked 3 times in 5 plate appearances and scored 3 runs.
Hanley Ramirez was 3 for 5 with a run scored.
Chris Young was 2 for 4.
Sandy Leon was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Deven Marrero was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Blaine Boyer pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Sam Travis was 0 for 4.
Robby Scott served up a home run in the bottom of the ninth to blow the shut-out.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 4 with a walk but drove in 2 runs.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but drove in 3 runs.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 5 but drove in 2 runs.
Final Thoughts:
That was a great win with the entire offense pitching in, especially with Chris Sale on the mound. They finally gave Chris run support and he pitched with supreme confidence. Alway great to see the entire offense pitch in for once especially since they've had trouble scoring runs virtually all year. Beating a team like the Jays who can hit the ball out of the yard is impressive even if they're struggling right now. The win improved the Sox to 46-35 on the season, 2.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow Drew Pomeranz (7-4, 3.81 ERA) looks to continue the hot streak against Jeff Biagini at 1:05 PM at Skydome.
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